Meet GES Delegate: Darril Saunders
Name: Darril Saunders
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Organization: Exotic Caribbean Mountain Pride
Website: https://goo.gl/QWMBlv
Brief Description of Organization: Exotic Caribbean Mountain Pride was founded in 2007 from an idea to obtain increased income from the production of cocoa beans. With little knowledge of chocolate making and traditional tools, we commercialized a traditional chocolate that was used by our ancestors for making hot chocolate drinks. Today the company is mechanized and this chocolate is sold at major supermarkets and souvenir shops on the island along with cocoa butter, dark chocolates, and other cocoa-based products.
What inspired you to start this organization?
This company began out of the need to support a single parent family and to earn extra income from the family’s estate. It was also to show people that simple things in the neighborhood can be made profitable with little knowledge and an appreciation for the know-how of the elders in the community.
How have you inspired persons in your community or country?
Since my involvement in cocoa in 2007 many small entrepreneurs began rehabilitating their farms and now there is a resurgence of cocoa farming and chocolate making in the country. I have also brought back the original taste of hot chocolate to a new generation, to appreciate the taste of a long lost tradition.
What project are you currently pursuing?
Presently I’m in the process of constructing a tourist stop along the roadway to the premier beach on the island. It will house my chocolate workshop, a chocolate cafe, and a traditional drying house. I also hope to house a souvenir store or shop where women entrepreneurs can sell their handmade products as a retail outlet.
What is the next big step you hope to help your organization reach?
The next step that I will be pursuing is to open more chocolate shops along with women entrepreneurs stores around the country including the airport.
What has been your biggest obstacle as an entrepreneur?
My biggest obstacle as an entrepreneur was acquiring knowledge to make chocolate commercially and obtaining capital and machinery to do so.
What advice would you give other emerging entrepreneurs?
My advice to the emerging entrepreneurs is to follow their passion and believe in what they are doing and do what makes them happy.
